Sales of UK produce have increased by an average five per cent following the Wal-Mart subsidiary's April launch of the initiative in all 263 stores nation-wide.
Chris Brown, ASDA's head of agriculture said: "The success of our Buy British campaign demonstrates what can be achieved by working together-and we have improved the way that we promote British products in our stores. As a result we have sold considerably more home-grown produce which is great news for our farming suppliers and the industry as a whole."
Success so far includes the extension of its availability of UK carrots to 52 weeks and of new and salad potatoes by 10 weeks.
Now the store plans to extend its promotional sampling programme in all stores. So far the programme has helped boosts sales of iceberg lettuce by 53 per cent and sales of UK sweet plum tomatoes by 29 per cent.
The store is also supporting British Food Fortnight, which runs until October 5, and its own Celebrating Home Grown Produce campaign will continue until November 17 with in-store point of sale material, product sampling and local pr.
The store has also reiterated its ethical policy this week in the wake of the Parliamentary select committee's damning report on gangmasters. "As members of the ETI we're working in partnership with other
retailers to look at the whole issue of gangmasters," said a spokeswoman. "And to ensure compliance with our expectations, we are rolling out a comprehensive ethical audit programme to our suppliers. Last year 13,000 audits, including over 600 in the UK were carried out by Asda and Wal-Mart."
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